Self-locking knife sheath



Nov. 18, 1952 F. H. GIBSON SELF-LOCKING KNIFE: SHEATH Filed April 20, 1951 2 SHEETS- SHEET 2 In v M n@ 9 l 4a vINVENTOR.

Fifa folug/B60 Patented Nov. 18, 1952 UNITED SIiL'fIfES.;l

y9,111.,tim'estand sometimes .in `anw-ments notice, r 10 apparent from the lfollowing.descriptionfof a; pre

and-therefore 1mustl rely'lon ysome-means 'of hold#- f ingthe-knife' Jiri an open' position' inther` sheath' andinia mannentovprevent the @knife from falling outoftl'iesheath y Various Ipric'ir 'art''devices and` methods', such" as a combinationiknife k'and 'sheath 'having a ylockinglatchgfhave f-beenemployed toikeep 'i',he-"l:`n`ife` in-y pl'aice.finfthe'fsheath:but thse devices require' a knifespeciallyfdesignedi forf the purpose; The service."` condition' 'of theI conventional leatherV scabbardff'depends on the' wet-'o1'v dry condition of theweather and' considerableskillis required,l at y times-i toremove'ethe- Jknife from1 the scabbard Witliciutf Ycausing f excessive k"pu-lling on "the-ebelt for f trousersyr Wheren the f'conventional I snap andY strap is employed-"to lhold the@ knife* in 1 the scalobardthisf'means 1isl^-usuall5`firegarded as tocmin-` certan Lto r relyt on i its'fialwaysi-'bei-rigrffastenedf'atff' thprope'r'tim'e itliasfocourredftdema-that--wh :is

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foferm'm'nyide ezmlm-'and':improvedfselfloekin `45:7:y Figure "14 isafragmentaryvi'ewfinfperspectiverf ofthe.'sheath;l certain portions beingb'roke'n 1aWay.;-

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Stifllifother :obj eci;s,^.`V advantages fandu'ifeatmfesrff ofgthexprlesent invention?vvilLloecon're more'full ferred.: embodiment :Lthereofiz Whicht.;is:v illustrated in thev accompanying drawings-to which referencer-zc. is had inzthedescriptionuand.Wherein':':.

15 sheathzof.; lthefzpresent: invention with fthe .iknifei shownrlocke'd therein ;,.A

Figure' 2 is f.azsectional"viewiofthe .fknife'andi' sheathillustrated in Figure "1: as ."seen-lalong"theii' line^2-.-2 thereof.;

Figure 3 is aside 'elevational view-of tliekn'iia.

line 5-'-5 :offFigureffi Figure 6' is a fragmentary Asectional:ivievvtaken'r f' along the line 6 6 ofzFi'gurevi Figure-,7 is -a *frag-.r'nenta'ry sectional View vofithe knife land .sheath similar. to' Fgureli butfshowing" i;lie'1 riifein` the'` lreleased .i position 'withinf that` sheathz-:z:

Figure 8 isa sectional." viewv taken along the'linefto"il1stratethe' -Constr'notion thereof. f

Referring 'now toith'edrawings for a more complete understanding ofi the invention', 2U desig-f 22, vand 1ahandle 23; InFigures" lto 10"th'-:knife' is -shownl-earrieduby; the shath24 ofthe-present invention; beinginserted :therein in 'f-thev-flockin" posii'fionf#ini Figures @l to 6 i-'andfl thee-release The sheath 24 comprises a main housing or casing 25 which may be made of metal, plastic or leather and carries at the top thereof a casing piece 26 which may be made of metal or plastic and which has a reduced collar portion 21 which is received as at 28 in matching engagement within the opening in the upper end of the main casing 25. On one side of the casing piece 26, the vcasing 25I extends in overlapping relation therewith by the casing portion 29 which has integrally formed therewith the flap 30 for receiving a belt.

The casing piece 26 houses the locking lever generally designated 3| and a spring 32 formed of suitable material such as spring steel for yieldably urging the locking lever to the right side of the casing piece as viewed, for example, in Figures 1 and 4.

The locking lever 3| may be formed of metal or plastic and has a U-shaped portion 33 defining a channel 34 into which the cutting edge portion of the blade2i is loosely received. Lever portion 33 also comprises a semi-circular notch 35 into which the rounded portion 35 of spring 32 is .pivotally received, the flat portion 31 of the spring being pressed in face adjacency with inner surface 38 of the casing piece 26.

Lever portion 33 also preferably comprises a rounded upwardly extending projection 39 which engages the underside of the hilt 2| when the knife is lowered into'the sheath.

One leg of the U-shaped lever portion has a somewhat narrowed extension 43 which terminates in a lever handle 4| which extends outwardlyof casing piece 26 through an opening 42 formed therein. Handle 4| has a rounded projection 43 which moves into a notch 44 therefor formed in casing piece 26 when the locking lever is rocked about the spring 32 to the knife release position as may best be seen in Figure 7. When the locking lever is rocked about spring 32 to the locking position, as best'appears in Figure 4, the spring being compressed by this movement, projection 43 rides on the surface 45 of casing piece 26 until the lower extremity of the lever handle 4| moves adjacent to the surface 46 of the casing piece 26, it being understood, however, that actual engagement therewith occurs only when there is no knife in the sheath.

When the knife is retained in released position within the sheath, it is guided along the back edge thereof by the surface 41 of the locking lever, this surface being opposite to the channel opening 34 and spaced sufciently from the bottom of the channel so as to loosely accommodate reasonably sized knife blades of different widths.

The narrowed leg portion 43 of the locking lever has a rounded projection 48 which extends upwardly into engagement with the underside of the hiltl and, thus, when the knife is inserted into the sheath in the released condition, it is supported therein by the hilt being in engagement with projections 33 and 43 of locking lever 3|. When pressure is applied to the knife, the hilt being in engagement with lever projection 48, the lever is pivoted downwardly about spring 32 and lever projection 43 is moved outwardly of notch 44 which causes the spring to be compressed. Thus, when projection 43 engages surface 45 of casing piece 26, the energy stored in the spring causes the projection 43 to be cammed along surface 45 until the back edge of the knife blade 22 is forced against the surfaces 49 and 55 of casing piece 26, the cutting edge of the knife blade being engaged by' the; side surface 5| of lever projection 39 whereby the knife blade is firmly engaged at the 4 three points 49, 50 and 5| and an absolute hold on the knife in the sheath is thus established.

When it is desired to release this hold on the knife, the handle 23 is grasped with the four fingers of the hand and the lever handle 4| is pressed inwardly and upwardly with the thumb whereupon the lever projection 43 is cammed upwardly along the casing piece surface 45 until the projection 43 drops into the notch 44 to thereby release the knife. Lever handle 4|' preferably is rounded and formed as illustrated to facilitate this release operation and to project a minimum amount beyond the side of the sheath thereby adding only slightly to the overall width thereof.

From the foregoing it should now be apparent that a self-locking sheath has been provided which meets the requirements of the aforestated objects of the invention and while one form only of the invention has been described in detail herein, it will be understood by those skilled in the art to which it pertains that modifications and changes in structure may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

l. In a self-locking sheath for a conventional sporting knife, the combination of a releasable locking lever including means engageable with' one edge of a knife blade inserted in the sheath for moving the other edge of the blade against an inner side surface of the sheath, and spring means interposed between the opposite side sur--y face of the sheath and said means for urging the same in the direction of said first named side surface when said lever is moved inwardly of the sheath, said lever comprising an upwardly extending projection engageable with the underside of the hilt of the knife whereby the lever is moved inwardly of the sheath when the knife is fully forced thereinto, said lever including a handle portion extending laterally outwardly of the sheath for moving said means in the direction of said opposite side surface of the sheath to release the knife therein when said handle portion is pressed by the thumb while thengers of the hand grasp the handle of the knife.

2. In a self-locking sheath-fora conventional sporting knife, the combination of a sheath casing, a locking lever disposed within the upper portion of said sheath and having an opening therein for loosely passing the blade of said knife therethrough and into the sheath, a leaf spring having end portions'disposed against an innerl side surface of said sheath casing and having a rounded central portion for pivotally engagingl said lever, said sheath casing having a notch in the opposite side surface thereof and an opening in said opposite side, said lever having a projection receivable in said notch and having a Ahandle portion extended through said side opening, said side opening comprising a cam` surface extending from said notch and said projection being cammed along said cam surface under power of energy stored in said spring when the projection is forced outwardly of the notch whereby the knife blade is urged by the'lever'into locked engagement against said opposite side surface of the sheath casing, said lever having an upwardly extending portion adjacent said projecl tion and engageable with the underside of the hilt of the knife for forcing said projection out ofthe notch when pressure-is applied to theV extending portion suiciently to force the'same fully within the sheath casing, said handlev portion being movable .inwardlyand I lpwardlyv of the casing sheath by pressure of the thumb thereon to return said projection into the notch when the fingers of the hand grasp the handle of the knife.

3. In a self-locking sheath for a conventional sporting knife, the combination of a sheath casing, a casing piece secured to the upper end of said sheath casing and having an opening in the side thereof, a locking lever disposed within said casing piece and having a thumb engaging portion extended through said opening, said thumb engaging portion having a surface for engaging one edge of a knife blade inserted in the sheath, said lever having a U-shaped portion defining a channel for receiving the other edge portion of said knife blade thgrewithin, a leaf spring interposed between said U-shaped lever portion and the side surface of said casing piece disposed oppositely from said side thereof, said U-shaped portion having a rounded notch therein and said spring having a rounded portion pivotally received Within said notch, said side of the casing piece having a notch on the inner surface thereof adjacent the upper edge of said opening therein, said thumb engaging portion having a projection receivable in said last named notch, said lever having an upwardly extending projection disposed intermediate said U-portion and said thumb engaging portion and engageable with the underside of the hilt of the knife whereby said projection on the thumb engaging portion is moved out of the notch therefor and into said opening, said U- shaped portion is moved by said spring into engagement with said other edge portion of the knife blade, and said one edge of the knife blade being forced into locking engagement with said inner surface of said side of the casing piece having said opening therein when the knife blade is forced fully into the sheath casing, said thumb engaging portion being movable by the thumb to pivot the lever about said spring as a pivot to return said projection on the lever thumb portion to said notch therefor while the handle of the knife is grasped by the fingers of the hand.

4. In a self-locking sheath for a conventional single blade sporting knife, the combination of a sheath casing, a spring disposed within said casing, lever means disposed within the casing in pivotal engagement with said spring and urged thereby to one side of the casing, said side of the casing having a notch therein and an opening therethrough, said lever means having a projection receivable in said notch and movable into said opening when forced out of said notch, said lever means having a surface engageable with one edge of a knife blade inserted in said casing for urging the other edge of the blade into locking engagement with the side surface of the casing adjacent said opening therein when said projection moves into the opening, means on said lever means and engageable with the hilt of the knife for moving said projection outwardly of the notch when the knife blade is forced fully within the casing, and a lever eX- tension of said lever means extended through said opening and engageable by the thumb while the ngers grasp the handle of the knife for moving said projection back into said notch thereby to release the knife blade in the sheath casing.

FRED H. GIBSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,105,239 Bachtold Jan. 1l, 1938 2,507,019 Johnson Dec. 6, 1946 2,527,710 Davidson Oct. 31, 1950 2,527,711 Davidson Oct. 31, 1950 2,528,059 Kendrick Oct. 3l, 1950 

